Tool for segmenting citrus fruits



Au 26,1941. R OLK, R, HAL 2,254,187

TOOL FOR SEGMENTING CITRUS FRUITS Original Filed April 13, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l l i 'v .12 2' II J? INVENTOR. jz/fi .Zi/ Jr. 3/;

BY 4,413 J;

ATTORNEYS.

Aug. 26, 1941.

R. POLK, SR, ETAL Original Filed April, 13, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v A Z5 INVENTORJ Ebv a Patented Aug. 26, 1941 TOOL FOR SEGMENTING CITRUS FRUITS Ralph Polk, Sr., Miami, and Ralph Polk, J13,

Haines City, Fla., assignors to The Polk Development Company, Tampa, -lila., a copartner'ship of Florida Original application April 13, 1938 Serial No. 201,732. Divided and this application June 7, 1939, Serial N0. 277,846

3 Claims.

This application is a division from our application Serial No. 201,732, filed April 13, 1938, which has matured into Patent 2,199,345, granted April 30, 1940, and relates to that portion of the invention which is illustrated in Fig. 7 of that application.

In order to can the meats of citrus fruits, it is necessary to segregate the juice-cell groups, substantially whole, from the radially extending integument portions which envelope them.

To facilitate this separation, we have provided the tool forming the subject matter of the present application.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an embodiment of our invention.

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a circular View of our improved tools; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary horizontal section, on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing a portion of a peeled citrus fruit into which our tools have been projected.

In the drawings It indicates a slender, somewhat resilient, stem, conveniently a round rod, of a length about twice the polar diameter of fruit to be acted upon and tapered at its lower end ll. Tangentially attached to stem H1, in its lower length, is a thin, upwardly tapered blade l2 having its tapered edge l3 preferably, though not necessarily, slightly sharpened around it. The blade H! has a length somewhat greater than half the polar diameter of the fruit to be acted upon and a maximum width slightly greater than the radial extent of a juice-cell group of the fruit to be acted upon, and the lower end of the blade I2 is arranged just above the tapered lower end of the stem it.

Several of these tools, conveniently about half the average number of segments in the fruit to be acted upon, are journaled in .a head [5 upon parallel axes in a circumferentially spaced circular series, the diameter of which is such that the tips it may be caused to simultaneously penetrate a peeled fruit, each tip ll entering the apex of a juice-cell group within the apex of the V-shaped enveloping integument. The stems H are somewhat loosely journaled in disc l5 and are held against axial displacement by suitable collars l3. Each of the stems I6 is provided, at its upper end, with a laterally projecting arm l9 normally biased toward and against a stop pin by a light spring 2|.

The peeled fruit, from which the major portion of the circumferential portions of the enveloping integuments, have been preferably recomposed of a circular series or parallel tines arranged around a central axis at a radial distance such that the tines will enter the fruit polarwise closely within the apices of the V- shaped integuments but just outside of the roots of those integuments, thus serving not only to support the fruit but to hold the V-shaped integuments against outward displacement. The stems H] are arranged on a slightly larger radius so that they will enter the fruit just radially outside of the tines of the holding fork and, as the group of tools is projected polarwise through the fruit, each blade l2 will automatically adjust itself in the bonding plane between one side of a juice-cell group and its adherent radially extending integument and, because of the tapered form of blade and upwardly and outwardly inclined relation of its outer edge, will shear one face of a juice-cell group from its adherent integument, the springs 2| serving to permit automatic adjustment of the blades relative to the bonding planes. If complete severance of juicecell groups from the integuments is to be attained by tools of this type, a similar group of tools with their blades l2 set upon the opposite sides of the stems [0 may be used, or some of the blades may be set tangentially upon one side of their stems I0 while other blades in the same circular group may be set on the opposite sides of their stems.

As we have pointed out in our original specification, a fruit in which the bonds between the radial integuments and only one face of each juice-cell group may be further treated by centrifugal action or by a rubbing action of a series of pins concentric with the pins of the holding form, may be manipulated to completely free the juice-cell groups from the integuments.

The peeled fruit is conveniently held upon a fork comprised of a circular series of small tines F (Fig. 2), which are projected into the apices of the integuments l5 and the pins H) are then projected into the fruit from the opposite end within the apices It just outside of the holding fork tines F and, as the pins it are moved through the fruit, the blades l2 adjust themselves against the flanking radial integument of the juice-cell group into which the blade is projected and thus serve to strip this integument from the juice-cell group, the stripped integument adhering to the adjacent integument of the adjacent juice-cell group.

We claim as our invention:

l. A tool for rupturing the natural-bond bemove is conveniently uppo ed upon a fork tween one side of a juice-cell group of a fruit of the citrus type and the adherent radial integument, comprising a straight main stem having a tapered tip and a diameter permitting its projection polarwise through the apex of a fruit segment without rupture of the radial integuments, and a longitudinally-tapered thin blade fixed upon the stem above the tapered tip and substantially tangential to the stem, and a carrier in which the upper end of said stem is loosely journalled, and means for yieldingly urging said stem rotatively to a limit of rotative movement in one direction in said carrier.

2. A tool for rupturing the natural bond between one side of a juice-cell group of a fruit of the citrus type, comprising a circumferential series of straight stems each having a tapered lower end, and a tapered blade arranged tangentially of the stem above the tapered tip, a carrying head in which the upper ends of the several stems are loosely journalled and suspended, means for limiting rotative movement of the stems in one direction in said head, and means for yieldingly rotating said stems to the V limiting means. 

